Outcast
by Nijntje86
Summary: Thorin is hard at work when he finds a little girl. Short story.


Thorin Oakenshield was banging his hammer on the large piece of metal, his face glowing in the light of the fire, his eyes concentrated on his work at hand. The horseshoe he was forging was almost done, and carefully he picked it up, cooling it down in the water. With his arm he whipped the sweat away that was starting to prick his eyes. He looked at his work and sighed.  
He was not getting enough paid for this.  
Very unlike himself, an anger surged through him as he threw his hammer into a corner of the smithy. With brisk steps he walked outside, his feet leaving an impression on the thick white blanket that had covered the world again last night. Breaking the ice that formed on the barrel of water his hands were attacked with needles as the frozen water cooled down his hands and heated face.

The small town he had arrived only days ago were in despaired need of a smith, as their own was sick in his bed with the flew.  
They were cold and had not been very welcoming, but Thorin needed the work, the money.  
The family of the smith had kindly offered him a place to sleep but had not offered him to eat with them. He did not blame them. They did not know a lot about the world outside the little town, let alone about the different species that lived in the world.

Thorin was glad he could leave soon, as it seemed the smith was getting better. For now, work was waiting for him.

After drinking another spoon of water he walked back in.  
In the doorway, he froze, as his eyes quickly saw the scene unfold before his eyes.

"Don't touch that!" His voice startled her hand, and the blond little girl with curls in her hair froze, her hand only inches away from the hot steel on the edge of the fire. With brisk steps he was with her, pulling her hand away from the fire.  
"What are you doing here! Go home!" But the moment he touched her wrist he felt how cold the little girl was. Two big green eyes looked up at him, tears welling up in her eyes. She was wearing a thin brown dress and her arms and legs were bare. One of her tiny feet was bare and blue with cold as the other is tucked in a wooden shoe.

"Where is your mother?" Thorin tried to sound less harsh, not wanting a crying girl in the smithy. Not waiting for an answer, he took her hand in his own. "Come."

He found the smiths wife in the kitchen, preparing dinner for that night. "There was a child in the smithy." He spoke, startling the woman. She was already drying her hands as she turned around.

Freezing as she looks at the child, anger spreading over her face.  
"Get that wench out of here." Thorin had never heard the smith's wife talk like that.  
"Out out! Take that bad luck with you."

The girl next to him hides behind him, as the smith's wife towered over the two of them.  
"What did she do?" Thorin asks as he is walking to the door, seeing the anger on the woman's face grew.  
"Since she walked in here there has been nothing but bad luck. My husband got sick, it started to snow. Bad luck!"

"She is just a child," Thorin spoke in defense, looking at the small girl staring at them. Her eyes huge and whet with unshed tears.

"OUT!" The woman now yelled and Thorin was quick t move now. He picked up the little girl and walked to the smithy.

He placed the girl on a pack of hay and pointed to her. "Stay." He spoke, as he moved to continue his work. She could warm up in the smithy before he would take her to someone else in the village.  
As he turned around to look at the child the pack of hay looked empty and alone. Instead, the little girl was standing near the smith's fire again. Her hand stretched out at the flames.

Anger and fear filled the dwarves heart, as he had seen many dwarves get burn for life by the fire. "NO!" With brisk steps he was with her, pulling her away. "Do NOT touch the fire." He boomed at her, the little girl looking up at him. Her big blue eyes staring up at him. He could not read them, or see if he had made an impression. She had probably been yelled at her whole life by strangers, so Thorin bent down on one knee, looking at her eye to eye. "The furnace is hot, and it will burn you. I don't want you to get hurt little one." He gave her a smile, "You can stay here for today, but do not come near the fire. Do you understand?" The little girl nodded, and wrapped her small arms around his neck, pushing her nose into his beard. "Are you hungry child?" He asked as he let her go. "Go sit there, I'll get you something." He pointed at the straw and looked at her until she was sitting on it. He walked over to his bag and took out an apple. But as he turned the girl was with the fire once again, but at a more respectful distance, her hands on her back. She looked at him and the apple, quickly running back to the straw. Her big blue eyes blinked at him innocently.

Thorin laughed as he gave her the apple. "Very well child, you can watch."

In the next two days, Thorin tried to find a home for the girl, after he finished his work, but he found nothing but shut doors.

It was time for him to leave the village, he looked at the girl, now wearing two wooden shoes and his fur around her shoulders. She was happily playing with a straw, blowing it up into the air, as it softly glided down on her nose again. In the last couple of days, she had not made any sound and Thorin guessed she was a mute. He sighed, as he looked at the task at hand. He was not going to leave the gentile little girl behind in the village where she was mistrusted and hated. But the winter had set in, and it was very cold outside of the smithy. "Child." He spoke, holding a package for her he bought in the village. The girl looked up as the straw softly landed in her curls. "Come, I got something for you." He handed her over the package, tied together with string. The girl looked at it, and back at him, carefully stretching her arms. He smiled as he placed it in her arms, expecting her to unwrap it. But the girl just stared at him, not moving at all. Tears started to form in her eyes as she looked at the pack, and she let her head hang. Thorin felt a sharp pain inside him, suddenly realizing the child never had a present, not knowing what to do with it.

So he sat down, pulling her closer, pulling softly on the string, before inviting her to do the same. The girl looked up at him for his approval as she pulled it. He nodded and smiled, as she undid the bow. Every now and then she would look at him as she carefully unwrapped the present. It now lay unwrapped in her lap, and she looked up at him, a question in her eyes not knowing what to do now.

Thorin grabbed the warm dress and legging from her lap, showing the girl what it was. It also held a warm jacket and a pair of woolen socks.

The girl stared at it softly feeling the thick wool with her fingers. Thorin smiled. "Put it on." He spoke softly, holding the leggings out for her. Wobbly and unsteady she put it on, sometimes in need some help from the dwarf, but in the end, she was dressed as warm as he was, already turning her cheeks more bright red then blue. The face of the girl changed, as her face broke into a wide smile, her tiny arms stretched out for him, and embraces him tightly. She placed a soft kiss on his cheek, making the dwarf smile and blush by her honest reaction. "There there, you need to be warm you know." He got to his feet, and the girl almost grew as he held out his hand for her. "Come." He spoke, taking her tiny hand in hers, walking her out of the warm smithy and into the cold of winter.

It was turning dark and Thorin had made a small campsite with a fire to warm themselves by. The snow had started to melt, but the earth was drying up underneath the hot flames. The girl had been able to keep up with him in the morning, but she had been getting behind when it started to grow dark. She was now laying on a thick fur, covered by a thick blanket, but he could see her shiver underneath. "Child, come here." He spoke, opening his own thick fur. The child got to her feet and taking her own fur with her and placed it on the ground, before crawling against the dwarf. He covered her with his blanket and pulled her close. She was cold, and it took her a moment to warm up, but she fell asleep quickly with the fire on her face. Thorin looked down at her with a smile. Her face at peace and a smile around her lips. He remembered his two cousins when they were younger, always sleeping in his arms as well.

Thorin knew what it was like to be cast out, hated and mistrusted. His heart broke to see a child so young already suffering the same fate. But he would change that. Just as he would change the fate of his fellow dwarves. He stroked the girl's hair. "I am here for you child." He whispered to her.

He knew she was sleeping, but a small smile curled around the lips of the girl. She was safe.


End file.
